February 14

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 14, 2024 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 8, PSALM 6

The centurion made a masterful analogy comparing his position as a man under                 authority and also having complete authority over 100 soldiers with Jesus’s complete        authority over natural forces, such as illness. Thus, Jesus healed the centurion’s servant remotely, not even traveling to the scene. Jesus used this opportunity to prophesize             about the worldwide family in the Kingdom. This has certainly come true. The locations   of greatest Christian activity now are South America, Africa, Asia.  Let’s also pray for    the places of declining activity: such as North America, Western Europe, and Australia.

  • Then Jesus arrived at Peter’s house and noticed that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick. Jesus touched her and her fever left. An interesting detail is that she immediately arose from bed to serve Jesus. This is a great reminder that when we are healed or receive any blessing from God, we have the opportunity to respond by immediately serving God. 

The healings Jesus performed are a fulfillment of Isaish’s prophecy that “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”  Some Bible teachers believe that such healings no longer take place after the period of the Apostles. Many others suggest there is no Biblical reason for miracles not to occur today and in fact do in places of more dynamic faith. 

Talking about lacking dynamic faith, Jesus pointed out two such cases in this chapter:

  • One of his disciples asked if he could follow Jesus after his father was buried, possibly waiting for an indetermined amount of time until his father died. 
  • Other disciples experienced a storm while in a boat and thought they were perishing. 

In both cases, Jesus rebuked his disciples. It appears He wants us to go all in now following Him, not fearing the obstacles. Do we have reasons for holding back in serving Jesus now? It is not likely to be more convenient later. A third example is not lukewarm faith, but an outreach rejection. An entire city in the Gadarenes asked Jesus to leave. Pray that we and those we love won’t ask Jesus to leave us/them alone. It’s possible to do by the choices we make without realizing we are rejecting Him. 

PSALM 6 Rather than considering content this time, let’s think about poetic structure. In C. S. Lewis’s book on the Psalms, he mentions that the poetic technique used most often in the Psalms is parallelism. In each verse the Psalmist writes a brief phrase then immediately afterwards repeats content that means the same but with different words.  In Psalm 6:1 we read, “Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,” followed by a short phrase that means the same: “Nor discipline me in Your wrath.”  Psalm 6:2 starts with, “Be gracious to me, Lord, for I amfrail,” followed by the similar “Heal me, Lord, for my bones are horrified.” Lewis mentions that this repetition is great for remembering but also it fortunately works well when translated to any language. We need to remember to interpret these Psalms as poetry. 

READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 15, 2004: GENESIS 9, MATTHEW 9, PSALM 7:1-7                            The first action in this chapter is God’s blessing to Noah and his sons. Why don’t we all stop right now and thank God for the unlimited blessings granted you. God then reiterates much of what He first told Adam, with some new details (which foreshadow Mosaic Law):   

  • Animals will fear humankind.
  • Animals can now be eaten as food if their blood is first removed.
  • A man or animal who kills a human (the image of God) shall be punished with death.

Next God institutes what is known as the Noahic Covenant. God promises never again to destroy the world with a flood. Notice that this is an unconditional or unilateral covenant. God will do this regardless of how humankind behaves. He confirmed this covenant with the sign of the rainbow.  Christians around the world are rightly reminded of God’s faithfulness to all His promises every time they see a rainbow. 

As with the very first family, disfunction soon occurred. Noah got drunk and took off his clothes while in his tent. His son Ham looked in, saw him in this condition, and shared this sensitive information with brothers Shem and Japheth. These two covered Noah up while respectfully not looking at his nakedness. Noah awoke, aware of Ham’s disrespectful behavior, then cursed Cannan, one of Ham’s four sons. 

The story above became known as the “Curse of Ham” and its misinterpretation has caused devastating evil, particularly in the United States. The misinterpretation first appeared in early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It reached its greatest popularity in America just prior to the civil war as a biblical justification for slavery. Likely this false belief still exists somewhere. 

Let’s look at how the facts correct the misinterpretations:  

  • God did not curse anyone. Noah did the cursing. 
  • Ham was not cursed, neither were his other sons—only Ham’s son Canaan.
  • The belief that the word “Ham” means “black” or “dark” has been proven incorrect. 
  • Canaan was not cursed with or because of skin color, but because of Ham’s actions.                                                                                                                              

This misinterpretation has been a national disgrace! It shows how vital it is to correctly read and interpret the Bible. A particular problem is trying to make the Bible fit our or our culture’s preconceptions instead of what the Bible clearly says. In this case, it was trying to make the Bible support the unbiblical belief of white superiority. Various false teachings were already prevalent in the first century. and the Bible repeatedly warns us to guard against them.  Let’s read the Bible carefully and in context. Allow the Bible to conform us to what it says rather trying to adjust the Bible to fit our agenda!